


101 Prompt

by Kuromori (Charred_Ground)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-10 22:01:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11700732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charred_Ground/pseuds/Kuromori
Summary: A collection of Prompt short story fiction for the Voltron fandom. Each chapter is named for the prompt. And each prompt chapter is a one shot, unless noted.Ship Warning: I'm a multishipper so any fic can go any way or no way at all! (I will have warnings in chapter summaries for any antis that may stumble into an undesired ship. Anything explicit may go in a different collection) I also consider the crew to be 'Late Teens' aside from Pidge. According to most concepts this puts the ages of the most of the Paladins at 17-19. The garrison is an army academy/recruitment center. US recruitment age is no younger than 17 and I'll go by that standard. Pidge would be the exception to the rule. I'm willing to bet she wasn't shy about disguising her age to get into the garrison.This is my first bit of content for this fandom and I hope to have many more.Special thanks to Sometimesafangirl for the beta read.





	1. Cut

**Author's Note:**

> Nonship.

Thirst trapped the air in Keith’s lungs. Each breath fighting way through the viscus mucus lining that developed in his throat as his body started to work on self-preservation. Slipping down rounded edge of a boulder, he found himself a sliver of shade before he narrowed his eyes up at the sky as though he could transfer his complaints to the midday suns baring down on him, not that they would care. The heat in this box canyon was more intense than any he had felt on earth and all his time he spent in the desert. At least there, he had a nightly reprieve from the sun. Here, Keith could just now see the start of a third sun starting to make its way up from the horizon. The corona cresting in a brilliance of diamond white light.

  
Keith wasn’t ever one to be a day dreamer. He’d always had real problems that needed real solutions. Though, there were times when he allowed his thoughts to wander. Times he’d think about the future. It was why he entered the Garrison after all. A pursuit of something greater than himself. Shiro had said something like that once.

  
Not understanding how to dream on his own, he stole into those of another. He followed Shiro. He’d be a part of his dream until he figured it out on his own. Eventually, he did. He wanted the sky. Not because Shiro already sored across it, but because he wanted it. The last untamed thing known to man at that time was the endless star filled sky. Keith was going to tame it. He’d own it. The wild currents, the exploration, the dangers, and the thrill of it. But never, in those fledging fantasies, did he think he'd be standing on the surface of an alien planet, in a triple star system, watching them move together in a graceful galactic dance, and hating every sun blasted second of it.

  
“How is there even a planet here!?” Keith snarled under his breath.

  
Being a fire paladin didn’t mean he was personally resistant to heat, thirst, or dehydration. Last he checked, he was still prone to all the typical aches and pains of most biological life forms. Being a paladin did not grant any of them with special gifts or talents. At best, they had enhancements to latent abilities. Lance, with his affinity to water, could possibly swim faster and hold his breath longer than the rest of them. Barely. Keith had yet to verify any of that as fact. He also wasn’t about to walk across hot coals to test any theories.

  
A warbling started to echo across the barren landscape of grey rock. What started as a lone trill become several, then several more. Their voices compounded by high sun baked walls. “Oh come on!” Keith pushed himself up the boulder’s surface, his slight frame pressing back to mold against the curve.

  
A force whizzed past his cheek.

  
Keith blinked several times, trying to get his eyes to focus on the object now stuck in the stone beside his head. A long thin black needle type object stuck about six inches out of the surface. The exposed end still reverberating. Keith quirked up and eye brow, his lips pursing to the side as he watched the object continue to move and wiggle, forcing itself further into the rock.

“Wha?”

Instinct won out over curiosity. Fine black hair bristling on the back of the youth’s neck as he took a few cautious steps back before a crack formed in the rock, stretching from the entry point. There was another loud thud, one that stuck the paladin in the chest and forced his legs to spring back, pushing him away from the ground. He twisted his body in the air until he came down on his hands and back boarded himself away with any build up energy he had left.

His feet dragged across the loose soil when he came to a skidding stop. The rock and the ground he was standing on was nothing more than a creator. Black smoke swirled up into a hovering cloud of dust and debris.

“That’s not…” Keith’s eyes became two twilight orbs of sudden terrified resolution. Tens of thousands of those little needles floating over there. More rising up from the ground around him with each sharp point directed straight at him. More and more came to the surface, the warbling getting louder until the decibel level was enough to cause his ears to sting.

One flew past him and he dodged it, followed by another. He stood in one place, keeping he motions quick and simple as they started to fly at him in single file turns. One dove straight to his knee, and Keith over corrected, twisting the muscle too far in and forcing his other knee down to take the fall. Another needle sliced by his up raised arm, cutting a fine deep line through his shirt and well into his skin.

“End training simulation: Coran Orlapian System – Swarm Protocal level 4.”

“Eh?” Keith stood up. “I can keep going!”

“Simulation Complete.”

“I said-“

“Ho-ho. Sorry there, Lad. If I let it continue you’d be a pincushion in a no more than 3 ticks.” Coran stepped through a pair of sliding doors as the triple star planet and all its horrors faded into nothing.

“I merely said you could see the training program. I never said you had to die in it. Besides… the stasis pods haven’t been cleaned since Hunk’s cooking experiment with Geriakian vegetation went awry.”

Keith winced at the memory but hid the expression behind a practiced scowl.

“Now now, you’ll have plenty of time to beat yourself up as much as you want soon enough. Learn to take a breather once or twice.” Coran pulled a cloth out of his breast pocket and held it to the seeping cut on the paladin’s arm. Keith was about to shrug him off, but something in the Altean’s expression stilled him. Was it paternal concern? Over all warmth? Whatever it was, it left him compliant.

“You’re all still so young. Even the princess. Life isn’t always about training, and fighting and missions. Learn to live a little before you throw yourself in head first into the glory of dying for something.” Pain and a not so distant one at that, flashed through Coran’s eyes. It was a pain Keith knew. The pain of loss.

“Coran…” Keith started. “Before-“ He took his lower lip between his teeth, finally offering to hold the cloth over the cut.

“Hm?” Coran pressed, his head cocked to the side.

“Never mind. I think… I think you’re right. I am going to call it a night here. One cut is enough, and I only have so many black t-shirts lying around.”

“Ah, very well then. Should we be expecting you for dinner tonight? You were in there for over four hours I’d imagine you’d be thirsty and hungry. I’ll make my special protein mix just for you.”

“Sure, Coran. I’ll be there.” The smallest of smiles turned up the edge of Keith’s lips. “Wait, that’s not the hot dog water stuff, is it?”

“Oh heavens no. You’re beyond that.”

“Alright. Thanks, Coran.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s the least I can do.”


	2. Socks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **SPOILERS FOR SEASON 3***  
> Takes place right after the moment in the observatory.
> 
> SHIP WARNING  
> Hints of Klance and Hints of Sheith

Dogs? Fine. Cats? Sure. But mice? Why would mice feel the need to steal socks? It was strange enough that they went through the trouble to open the drawer and empty it completely but then to not even bother to leave him a single pair? Lance was forced to wonder the palace hallways barefoot as he hunted down a set of thieving cotton candy colored space rodents and each bare slap of his feet against the cold metal floor was like a barb of righteous chilly fury down his nerves. 

Lance had been following their trail for the better part of an hour before he heard the metallic slide of the palace’s automatic doors. He turned about face to greet the guest, his smirk already in place with all the razzle and dazzle that came with it, but when he saw the familiar silhouette he ducked around the corner. 

Shiro’s return was to have been something they celebrated. It was the coming together of a broken family, but Lance hadn’t felt right about it. It was off. The whole thing felt wrong. He wasn’t the type to fly off on is instincts alone, but when he saw that intimidating shadow of a man enter the hallway and turn opposite of his direction, Lance thanked every god he could think of, including some Altean saints (thanks to Coran). He had no desire to be alone with him. 

“Keith?” Lance whispered and looked up as the doors started to close. He saw the other Paladin standing before the large observatory windows. His hand clutching his shoulder and his head bowed.  
Lance waited just a few more ticks before stepping back into the hallway, the doors opening for him with barely a hint of a well-engineered whisper. “H-hey, man.” 

No response.

“Hey, you know there are things called lights. Ever try using them? Might help a little with the broody atmosphere you got hanging around you. Though some ladies might like it. I prefer more straight forward tactics.” Lance shined his self-professed million-dollar smile, but he might has well have been the only person in the room. 

Lance stepped further into the room, his eyes taking in the faintly shorter frame of the dark haired Paladin. This wasn’t the same Keith from yesterday. This wasn’t even the same Paladin from a week ago. Something had been off about Keith since the moment Shiro came back, and whatever it was had left their fledgling leader shaken.  
The new red paladin winced as he watched Keith’s hand tighten on his shoulder, this expression pained and lost. 

“You alright?” _Stupid question! Of course not! Look at him._ Lance chided internally.

“Hn.” It wasn’t much, but at least Keith was aware of someone other than himself. 

“Did you hurt yourself, or something?”

“Hm?” Those too big eyes looked up at Lance, their dark indigo iris off set by the paleness of Keith’s narrow face. “Oh.” His hand dropped from his shoulder. “Yeah. I’m fine.” And just like that the Black Paladin turned his head back to the window. 

Lance observed him for just a moment longer. Ordinarily he would have just let things go. Ordinarily he wouldn’t have felt compelled to do much more than what he had attempted. Ordinarily he would have scoffed or snarked at Keith for being… well Keith. Ordinarily he wasn’t this drawn in. Perhaps it was the promise he made to Allura. Perhaps it was the influence of the red lion. Perhaps it was something completely different and disturbingly unrelated to anything other than, this was Keith.

“What happened to you out there?” Lance pressed, boldly resting a hand on the same shoulder Keith freed. He didn’t back away. In fact, there was a sense of settling in that encouraged him to boldness. “You’ve been, off, since returning from the cargo-ship incident. Is it about what happened? It wasn’t easy… and we didn’t make it any easier for you. Over all you made the right call.”  
“I’m not so sure about that.” Keith whispered. 

“Well, I am. But it’s not just that. There’s something you’re not telling us, something about Shiro.” Keith’s head turned toward Lance, then bowed, dark eyes narrowing into hard lapis shards.  
“What is it?” Lance stepped forward, his wrist bending so his hand slid slightly from Keith’s shoulder to his upper back. “You can tell me, I owe you one anyway.”

“Your feet.”

“Huh?” Lance blinked a few times.

“Your feet.”

“My feet?”

“No shoes.” Lance followed Keith’s gaze and watched his own caramel colored toes wiggle against the floor.

“Wh-eh! Well! I’m having a rodent issue! Okay! Can we please focus!”

“But your room is for floors up.” Keith looked up at Lance, the incredulous smile on his lips freezing any attempts Lance may have had a more serious conversation. “You walked all the way down here… like that? Why didn’t you just hit the laundry button by the dresser?”

“The what?” 

“The… button. You press it. It replaces the laundry it took to wash.” Keith put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. “Not sure when that happens though. I’ve never seen it collect anything my self-“ Then his eyes got wide. “Wait.. you mean to tell me, you’ve been… this whole time?”

“Well if no one tells me how am I supposed to KNOW things. It not like this castle came with a user’s manual!” Lance stopped his barefoot to express his chagrin which only spread Keith’s smile in to a full laugh as the bare skin slap echoed through the dark room, chasing away the somber atmosphere, leaving over the soft chime of an even more rare sound.

Lance shook his head in defeat as Keith’s laugh finally stilled and those eyes focused back on him, but there was a spark of light in them now, and with that Lance felt he had completed at least one mission.

“So it wasn’t the mice.”

“No. I’ll come to your room, after dinner and show you what I’m talking about.” 

“You don’t have to. I’m sure I can-“

“No. It’s fine. I want to.” Once again Lance studied the other’s face, searching for something more than what Keith was saying, but the boy was guarded. Always had been.  
“Alright. So, after dinner then.” Lance turned, putting his hands in his back pockets as he started to leave the room.

“Lance, um thanks.” Keith mumbled, his hand lifting to awkwardly rub at the back of his neck. “I’m just trying to figure a few things out, ya know.”

“Yeah, buddy.” Lance smiled over his shoulder. “I know. I’ll see you later.”

“Y-yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tempted to continue this story line in another prompt. Lemme know what ya'll think. (those who read it)


End file.
